Cleaning apparatus



Sept. 20, 1966 LEVINSQN ET AL 3,273,189

CLEANING APPARATUS Filed June 22, 1965 5 ShGGtS-STIGS'C 1 INVENTORSLouis E. Levinson Ernpst J'- Worley BY M Sept. 20, 1966 L s ET AL3,273,189

CLEANING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 22, 1965 INVENTORS LouisE. Levinson Ernest J. Worley 6 M ATTORNEYS Sept. 20, 1966 L. E. LEVINSONET AL 3,273,189

CLEANING APPARATUS Filed June 22, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS LouisE. Levinson Ernest J- Worley 6 75 x W MYS Fig.8

United States Patent 3,273,189 CLEANING APPARATUS Louis E. Levinson,Dallas, and Ernest J. Worley, Garland,

Tex., assignors to General Business Corporation, Dallas, Tex., acorporation of Texas Filed June 22, 1965, Ser. No. 465,992 15 Claims.Cl. 15-22) This invention relates to cleaning aparatus and moreparticularly to a hydraulically driven device for cleaning teeth.

An object of this invention is to provide a new and improved cleaningdevice for teeth which may be powered by water under pressure from anysuitable source such as an ordinary faucet.

Another object is to provide a hydraulically driven cleaning devicewhich has means for delivering a relatively high velocity jet of waterat the teeth and the interstices between the teeth to wash out anydebris.

Still another object is to provide a hydraulically driven cleaningdevice having means for oscillating a brush about a horizontal axis.

A further object is to provide a cleaning apparatus for teeth whichincludes a driver unit having quick release means for attaching it to afaucet and means operable by water flowing from the faucet for rotatinga flexible shaft, and a hand unit having means for translating therotary movement of the flexible shaft into oscillatory movement of atooth brush connected thereto.

A still further object is to provide a cleaning apparatus having clutchmeans for selectively connecting a tooth brush shaft to the output shaftof the motion translating means.

Another object is to provide means in the head unit for controlling llowof water from the driver unit to a jet nozzle carried by the head unit.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be readilyapparent from the reading of the following description of a deviceconstruction in accordance with the invention, and reference to theaccompanying drawings thereof, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the cleaning device embodying theinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of the hand unit of the apparatus;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a holder for thebrush;

FIGURE 6 is a vertically partly sectional view of the hydraulic driveunit attached to the faucet;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken on line 77 of FIGURE 6; and,

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken on line 8-8 of FIGURE 6.

Referring now to the drawings, the teeth cleaning apparatus 10 includesa hydraulic drive unit 11 which is attachable by quick release assembly12 to a faucet 13, to which water under pressure is delivered to anysuitable source of water under pressure such as the water main system ofa city, and a hand unit 14 having a handle 15 carrying a tooth brush 16and a nozzle -17 to which water under relatively high pressure isconducted from the faucet through the driver unit, a flexible resilientconduit 18 and a relatively rigid conduit 19.

The drive unit 11 includes a housing 20 formed of a suitable highimp-act plastic which may be formed of two molded sections which arethen bonded by suitable bonding agent along the vertical centrallongitudinal line 21 to form a single piece housing. The quick releaseice assembly 21 by which the housing is attachable to a faucet includesa tubularadapter 22 whose externally threaded reduced upper end portion23 is threaded into the faucet. The adapter may be provided with aplurality or slots 24 adjacent its lower end through which air is drawn,when the housing is not secured thereto, to aerate the water beingdischarged from the faucet. The adapter has an external annular recessabove aerator slots in which an O-ring 25 or other suit-able sealingmeans is disposed and an external annular latch recess 26 above theO-ring.

The drive unit housing has an upper tubular section 27 telesoopable overthe adapter and provided with an internal annular flange 28 whose topannular surface engages the bottom annular surface of the adapter tolimit upward movement of the housing on the adapter. A tubularexternally reduced latch extension 30 of the upper tubular housingsection is provided with a plurality of lateral apertures 31 in whichthe latch balls 32 are movably positioned.

The latch balls are of greater diameter than the inner portions of theapertures so that while the latch balls may move inwardly through theapertures to positions wherein their inner portions may protrudeinwardly of the latch extension, they are held against inward movementout of the apertures by engagement with the surfaces of the latchextension defining the inner portions of the apertures. The diameter ofthe latch balls is also greater than the thickness of the latchextension so that both their inner and outer portions extend inwardlyand outwardly of the latch extension whereby their inner portions aremovable into the annular latch recess of the adapter by a latch sleeve36, movably mounted on the upper tubular housing section by theengagement of their outer portions by the downwardly and inwardlyarcuate internal annular cam surface 34 of the latch sleeve.

The latch sleeve is biased upwardly to operative or latching position bya spring 3 5 whose lower end portion engages the annular upwardly facingannular shoulder '36 of the upper housing section and whose upper endportion engages the downwardly facing internal shoulder 37 of the latchsleeve. Upward movement of the latch sleeve on the housing is limiteddue to the engage-ment of its internal cam surface with the latch ballswhen their inward movement is arrested either due to their engagementwith the surfaces of the latch extension defining the inner portions ofthe apertures 31 or due to their enaggement with surface of the adapterdefining the latch recess 26.

The latch balls may be inserted into the latch apertures after the latchsleeve is moved to a lowermost position on the housing againstresistance of the spring '35. This latch sleeve will then move upwardlyon the latch extension and thereafter hold the balls against outwarddisplacements.

When the housing is secured to the adapter, the O-ring 25 seals betweenthe adapter and the latch extension above the aerator slots 24 thusinsuring that no air is drawn into the water flowing through the passage38 of the adapter and the passage 39 of the housing defined by theflange 28 into the chamber 40 in the lower portion of the tubular upperhousing section.

The housing has a middle circular section 41 which includes verticalside walls 42 and 43 and a substantially circular wall 44 having ahorizontal central axis which provides a circular water wheel chamber45. The circular wall 44 has an upwardly opening passage 46 of smallerorifice than the passage 39 which opens to the bottom of the chamber 40.

A water wheel 47 is rotatably mounted in the wheel chamber 45 by meansof a shaft 48 which extends through a central passage of the water wheeland is provided with a plurality of longitudinal ribs or tongues 49which are received in slots of the wheel which opens to the centralpassage of the water wheel. One end portion of the shaft is supported bya bearing 50 received in an inwardly opening bore or recess of theplanar wall 42 while its other end portion extends outwardly through abearing 51 in a passage or aperture in the other planar wall 43.

The passage 46 is inclined angularly downwardly in the direction ofrotation of the water wheel to eject a jet stream of water against theusual peripheral vanes or blades 52 of the water wheel to cause rotationof the water wheel. The spent water from the wheel chamber is dischargedto the exterior of the housing, and into the sink below the faucet,through the discharge passage 53 provided by the lower housing section54.

The wheel shaft is connected to a flexible drive shaft 55 by means of atubular connector socket 56, secured to one end of the flexible shaft inany suitable manner, which telescopes over the outer end portion of thewheel shaft and is rigidly secured thereto by a set screw 57. Theconnector socket is disposed in a tubular boss or extension 58 of theside wall 43. The flexible shaft rotates within a tugular sheath 59 oneend portion of which is telescoped over the tubular extension 58 and isrigidly secured thereto in any suitable manner as by an adhesive bondingagent or the like.

The upper tubular section 27 of the housing has a passage 60 which opensto the interior of the chamber 40 above the circular wall 44 and extendsthrough a tubular boss 61 of the upper tubular housing extension. Oneend of the flexible water resilient water conduit 18 is telescoped overthe tubular boss and secured thereto in seal tight relation in anysuitable manner as by an adhesive or bonding agent, so that water fromthe chamber 40 may flow from the chamber 40 into the water conduit.

The hollow handle 15 of the hand unit 14 is elongate in shape and may beformed of a rear section 65, a middle section 66 and a forward section67 and its interior is divided into a rear compartment 68, atransmission compartment 69, a clutch compartment 70 and a forwardcompartment 71 by three discs or walls 73, 74, and 75. The interior ofthe rear handle section 65 is enlarged to provide a forwardly facingannular shoulder 76 which limits rearward movement of the rear disc 73therein and a similar shoulder 77 formed by another enlargement thereoflimits rearward movement of the middle wall 74 therein. The forwardhandle section similarly is internally enlarged to provide a rearwardlyfacing annular shoulder 78 which limits rearward movement of the frontwall 75.

The walls 74 and 75 are held against movement toward one another by aninternal tubular spacer member 80 Whose forward annular edge bearsagainst the outer edges of the front wall 75 and whose rear edge bearagainst the outer forward surfaces of the middle wall 74. The spacermember 80 is provided with rearwardly opening longitudinally extendingslots 81 and 82 which receive the internal bosses 84 and 85 of themiddle handle section. The rear wall is held against forward movement inthe handle by a tubular spacer 87 which abuts the outer front and rearsurfaces of the rear and middle walls, respectively.

The middle handle section has outer end portions 89 and 90 of enlargedinternal bores which telescope over the reduced end portions 91 and 92of the rear and front handle sections. The middle sections are rigidlyand releasably secured to one another by suitable expansion or snapfasteners 94 which extend through suitable aligned apertures in theoverlapped portions of the middle section and the rear and forwardsections of the handle.

The rear wall of the rear section has a rearwardly opening passage 100which communicates with the rear compartment 68 and extends through therear tubular extension 101 of the rear handle section. The flexibledrive shaft 55 extends into the rear compartment through a bearing 103secured in the passage and the end of its protective sheath 59 istelescoped over the tubular extension 101 and rigidly secured thereto inany suitable manner as by bonding, adhesive or the like.

A transmission or motion translating assembly 105 disposed in thetransmission compartment 66 translates the rotary motion of its inputshaft 106 into oscillatory movement of its output shaft 107 about itslongitudinal axis. The input shaft 106 extends rearwardly through asuitable bea-ring 109 in an aperture of the rear wall and is connectedto the flexible shaft by a tubular coupling or socket 110 which istelescoped over its rear end portion and is rigidly secured thereto bythe set screw 111. The forward end of the input shaft is received in thehub 112 of a circular plate 113 and is rigidly secured to the hub in anysuitable manner as by a set screw 114. The plate 113 has a forwardlyextending pin 115, spaced radially outwardly of the longitudinal axis ofthe input shaft, which is received in the radially outwardly extendingslot 116 of the lever 117 rigidly secured to the output shaft 107 of thetransmission. The output shaft extends through the passage 118 of thelever and is secured thereto by a set screw 119. During each completerevolution of the input shaft 106 the output shaft is oscillated throughan angle of approximately 30.

The output shaft extends forwardly through a suitable bearing 121 in themiddle wall 74 into the tub 122 of the longitudinally stationary cluchplate 124 of a clutch 125 and is secured rigidly to the hub by a setscrew. Rearwaird movement of the clutch disc or plate 124 is limited bythe engagement of the rear surface of its hub with the front surface ofthe middle wall and its forward movement is limited by the engagement ofthe lever 117 with a rearwardly extending boss of the middle wall. Thelongitudinally movable plate 127 of the clutch has a hub 129 providedwith a rearwardly opening longitudinal bore in which is received thereduced forward end portion 130 of a tooth brush shaft 131. The hub haslongitudinally opposed slots 133 in which are received the outwardlyextending portions of a pin 134 which extend through a suitabletransverse aperture in the tooth brush shaft. The hub 129 and thereforethe clutch plate 127 is thus 1ongitu-dinally movable relative to thetooth brush shaft but oscillates the tooth brush shaft due to theprovision of the slots 133 and the pin 134.

Forward movement of the tooth brush shaft which extends through asuitable bearing 130 in the front wall 75 is limited by the engagementof the stop collar 141 on the reduced portion 130 of the tooth brushshaft with the rear surface of the front wall. The stop collar isrigidly secured to the toothbrush shaft by a suitable set screw.Readward movement of the tooth brush shaft is limited by the engagementof its rearwardly facing annular shoulder 142 with the front surface ofthe wall or of the hearing. The forward end of the tooth brush shaftextends outwardly through a bearing 144 suitably mounted in anappropriate passage or bore of the front handle section.

The clutch plate 127 is movable rearwardly to cause its rear surface toengage the front surface of the longitudinally stationary clutch plate124. The opposing surfaces of the clutch plates are roughened orprovided with a layer of a suitable friction material so that when theclutch plates are moved into engagement with one another, the clutchplate 124 imparts its oscillatory movement to the clutch plate 127 andthus to the tooth brush shaft. The longitudinally movable clutch plate127 is moved forwardly into engagement with the clutch plate 124, when abutton mounted for limited radial movement on the middle handle sectionis depressed, by means of a lever 151. The lever extends through adownwardly opening slot in the stem of the button and has a slot 156. Apin 157 secured to the stern extends through the slots 155 and 156 sothat the engagement of the pin with the surfaces of the lever definingthe slot 156 cause the lever to be pivoted in a clockwise directionabout the pin 154 when the button 150 is depressed and to pivot in acounterclockwise device when the button is moved upwardly by a spring158. The lower end portion of the spring engages an upwardly facingannular shoulder 149 of the middle handle section and its upper endportion engages a downwardly facing annular shoulder 160 of the button.The rear end of the lever is provided with a pair of transversely spaceddownwardly extending arms 162 and 163 whose lower ends are provided withcircular enlargements of bosses 165 which are received in an annularexternal recess 167 of the hub of the clutch plate 127. Engagement ofthe inwardly extending bosses 165 with the radially outwardly extendingsurfaces defining the sides of the slot 167 causes forward rearwardlongitudinal movement of the slidable clutch plates 127.

The front end of the tooth brush shaft is provided with a clamp socket170 formed by horizontal resilient upper and lower members 171 and 172whose front forward edges are bent inwardly to form transverselyextending latch portions 173 and 174, respectively, which are receivablein upper and lower transverse recesses 175 and 176, respectively, of therectangular rod 177 of the tooth brush 16. Transverse movement of thebrush rod in the socket is limited by the vertical side plates 178 and179 thereof.

The water conduit extends inwardly into the rear compartment through apassage 180 of the rear handle section and into the forward compartment71 through suitable apertures in the rear, middle and front walls. Itsforward end portion is telescoped over the rear end of the conduit 19which extends rearwardly into the forward compartment through a suitablepassage 120. The rigid conduit may be secured to the front handlesection by a bonding agent, adhesive or the like. Similarly thetelescoped portion of the water conduit 18 may be similarly secured tothe rear end portion of the rigid conduit over which it is telescoped.

Flow of water through the flexible resilient water conduit 18 to therigid conduit 19 and therefore to the jet nozzle 17 is controlled by aclosure member 181 whose transversely extending clamp portion 182 isadapted to occlude or collapse the portion of the water conduit disposedbetween the clamp portion and the internal surface 183 of the boss 85.The closure member 182 has a stem 185 which extends outwardly of thehandle through a radial passage 186 of the middle handle section and itsradially downwardly extending boss 187. The closure member is biasedtoward closed position by a spring 188 whose upper end bears against thedownwardly facing annular shoulder 190 provided by an enlargement of thepassage 186 and whose lower end portion bears against the annularshoulder 191 of a button 192 threaded on the lower end of the stem. Thestem may be provided with a longitudinal rib or tongue 194 which isslidable in an internal radial recess 195 of the boss 187. The buttonmay be rotated relative to the stem to thread on the stem prior to theinsertion of the flexible water conduit between its clamp portion 182and the surface 183 of the internal boss of the middle handle section.

In use, the adapter 22 is connected to the faucet and thereafterwhenever it is desired to use the teeth cleaning apparatus 10, thedriver unit is quickly connected to the faucet by moving its latchsleeve 33 downwardly to permit outward movement of the latch ballscarried by the latch extension 30. The latch extension is thentelescoped upwardly on the adapter until upward movement of the housingof the driver unit is arrested by the engagement of the top surface ofthe internal flange 28 of the upper housing extension 27 with thedownwardly facing surface of the adapter, at this time the latch sleeveis released for upward movement and during such upward move ment thelatch balls 32 are cammed inwardly in the recesses of the apertures 31and into the annular external latch recess 26 of the adapter. The driverunit 11 is now secured to the faucet against displacement therefrom andthe O-ring 25 seals between the latch extension and the adapter so thatwhen the faucet is opened all water flowing therefrom must flow throughthe passage 38 of the adapter and the passage 39 of the upper housingextension 27 into the chamber 40. The Water flows angularly outwardlyfrom the passage 46 against the vanes 52 of the water wheel and causesit to rotate. Such rotation of the water wheel of course results in therotation of the flexible shaft 55 and the transmission translates thisrotary movement of the flexible shaft into oscillatory movement of theclutch plate 124 through a predetermined angle about the longitudinalaxis of its shaft 122. If it is then desired to brush the teeth, thebutton is depressed to move the clutch plate 127 into operativeengagement with the longitudinally stationary clutch plate 124. Thetooth brush is now oscillated about the longitudinal axis of its rod 177so that when the handle is held in a horizontal position, the brushoscillates about a horizontal axis to provide an up and down brushing ofthe teeth which is especially effective in removing debris from betweenthe teeth. When it is thereafter desired to use a jet of water to washout any debris between the teeth, the button 192 is depressed to permitthe flow of water from the chamber 40 and the water conduit to thenozzle 17. The relatively small orifice of the passage 46 relative tothe passages 38 and 39 of the adapter and of the upper tubular extension27 of the driver unit housing ensure the creation of a back pressurewithin the chamber 40 which causes relatively high velocity jet of waterto flow from the jet nozzle 17. If desired, of course, the brush may beoscillated and the jet of water may be directed at the teeth at the sametime. The spent water flowing from the water wheel chamber flowsdirectly into the sink below the faucet.

If the brush is inadvertently held with a great force againstoscillatory movement, the clutch plate 124 will oscillate about its axisof its shaft 107 and relative to the clutch 127 thus overcoming thefrictional engagement between the facing surfaces of the two clutchplates. The clutch thus also functions as an overload release device.

After the cleaning device has been used, the driver unit is easilydisconnected from the faucet merely by pushing down on the latch sleeve33 and moving the driver unit housing downwardly and out of engagementwith the adapter 22.

It will now be seen that a new and improved cleaning device 10 has beenillustrated and described which provides the desired oscillatorymovement of a tooth brush about a horizontal axis and that the cleaningapparatus is driven by the force of water flowing from a faucet.

It will further be seen that the cleaning apparatus includes a quickrelease assembly for securing the driver unit of the apparatus to afaucet.

It will further be seen that the drive unit includes a housing having awater wheel or turbine rotatably mounted therein for rotating a flexibleshaft, and a hand unit having a hollow elongate handle in which aremounted a motion translation device which translates the rotary motionof the water wheel and flexible shaft into oscillatory movement of anoutput shaft, and a clutch for selectively connecting a tooth brushshaft to the output shaft imparting an oscillatory movement to the toothbrush shaft through a predetermined angle about a horizontal axis.

It will further be seen that the housing has means providing a chamberthrough which the water from the faucet flows and means such as aflexible conduit means for conducting fluid from the chamber to the jetnozzle mounted on the handle to provide a jet of water for washing orcleansing teeth, and that the handle is provided with means forselectively stopping and permitting flow of water from the chamber tothe jet nozzle.

It will further be seen that the driver unit housing is provided withmeans such as the relatively small orifice 46 to ensure that the Watersupplied to the nozzle is under desired pressure to provide a jet ofdesired high velocity.

It will further be seen that the handle is formed of a plurality ofsections to permit easy assembly and disassembly of the head unit andthat, if desired, the middle and forward sections may be made of asingle piece and the spacer members 80 and 87 omitted if the walls aresecured by a bonding agent or adhesive to the handle sections.

The foregoing description of the invention is explanatory only, andchanges in the details of the construction illustrated may be made bythose skilled in the art, within the scope of the appended claims,without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A cleaning apparatus including: a driver unit having a housingreleasably connectable to a faucet through which water from the faucetmay flow; a water wheel rotatably mounted in said housing and rotated bywater flowing therethrough; a flexible shaft driven by said driver unit;and a hand unit including a hollow elongate handle, a motion translatingdevice for translating rotary movement having an input shaft and anoutput shaft, said flexible shaft extending into said handle and beingconnected to said input shaft, said motion translating devicetranslating rotary motion of said input shaft into oscillatory motion ofsaid output shaft about a predetermined angle about the longitudinalaxis of said output shaft; a tooth brush shaft rotatably mounted in saidhousing; and clutch means for selectively connecting said tooth brushshaft to said output shaft.

2. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein said clutch means comprisesa clutch plate rigidly secured to said output shaft, a second clutchplate mounted on said tooth brush shaft for longitudinal non-rotatablemovement relative thereto, and means operable from the exterior of saidhandle for moving said second clutch plate into engagement with saidfirst clutch plate.

3. The cleaning apparatus of claim 2, wherein said driver unit has achamber upstream of said water wheel and said hand unit has nozzle meansincluding a rigid conduit extending forwardly of the forward end of saidhandle, a flexible conduit having one end communicating with saidchamber and having its other end connected to said rigid conduit; andmeans carried by said handle and operable to control flow through saidflexible conduit to said nozzle means.

4. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein said driver unit has achamber upstream of said Water wheel and said hand unit has nozzle meansincluding a rigid conduit extending forwardly of the forward end of saidhandle, a flexible conduit having one end communicating with saidchamber and having its other end connected to said rigid conduit; andmeans carried by said handle and operable to control flow through saidflexible conduit to said nozzle means.

5. A- cleaning apparatus connectable to a faucet having a quick releaseadapter connected thereto, said cleaning apparatus including: a driverunit having a housing; connector means on said housing releasablyconnectable to said adapter, said adapter and said connector meanspermitting flow of water from the faucet to said housing; a water wheelrotatably mounted in said housing and rotated by water flowingtherethrough; a flexible shaft driven by said driver unit; and a handunit including a hollow elongate handle, a motion translating devicehaving an input shaft and an output shaft, said flexible shaft extendinginto said handle and being connected to said input shaft,'said motiontranslating device translating rotary motion of said input shaft intooscillatory motion of said output shaft through a predetermined angleabout the longitudinal axis of said output shaft; a tooth brush shaftrotatably mounted in said housing and extending forwardly therefrom,said brush shaft having means exteriorly of said housing for securing atoothbrush thereto; and clutch means for selectively connecting saidtooth brush shaft to said output shaft.

6. The cleaning apparatus of claim 5, wherein said clutch meanscomprises a clutch plate rigidly secured to said output shaft, a secondclutch plate mounted on said tooth brush shaft for longitudinalnon-rotatable movement relative thereto, and means operable from theexterior of said handle for moving said second clutch plate intoengagement with said first clutch plate.

7. The cleaning apparatus of claim 6 wherein said driver unit has achamber upstream of said water wheel and said unit has nozzle meansincluding a rigid conduit extending forwardly of the forward end of saidhandle; a flexible conduit having one end communicating with saidchamber and extending into said handle and having its other endconnected .to said rigid conduit; and means carried by said handle andoperable to control flow through said flexible conduit to said nozzlemeans.

8. The cleaning apparatus of claim 5 wherein said driver unit has achamber upstream of said water wheel and said unit has nozzle meansincluding a rigid conduit extending forwardly of the forward end of saidhandle; a flexible conduit having one end communicating with saidchamber and extending into said handle and having its other endconnected to said rigid conduit; and means carried by said handle andoperable to control flow through said flexible conduit to said nozzlemeans.

9. A hand unit including: a hollow elongate handle, a motion translatingdevice having an input shaft and an output shaft, said input shaft beingrotatable by a flexible shaft adapted to be connected to said inputshaft, said motion translating device translating rotary motion of saidinput shaft into oscillatory motion of said output shaft through apredetermined angle about the longitudinal axis of said output shaft; atooth brush shaft rotatably mounted in said housing and extendingforwardly therefrom, said brush shaft having means exteriorly of saidhousing for connecting a tooth brush thereto; and clutch means forselectively connecting said tooth brush shaft to said output shaft.

10. The cleaning apparatus of claim 9 wherein said clutch meanscomprises a clutch plate rigidly secured to said input shaft, a secondclutch plate mounted on said brush shaft for longitudinal non-rotationalmovement relative thereto, and means operable from the exterior of saidhandle for moving said second clutch plate into engagement with saidfirst clutch plate.

11. The hand unit of claim 9, and nozzle means disposed forwardly ofsaid handle and including a rigid conduit extending rearwardly into saidhandle; a flexible conduit having one end extending forwardly into saidhandle and connected to said rigid conduit; and means carried by saidhandle and operable to control flow through said flexible conduit tosaid nozzle.

12. A cleaning apparatus including: a tubular adapter adapted to beconnected to a faucet; a tubular housing having its upper endtelescopical over said adapter; latch means carried by said housing forreleasably securing said housing to said adapter, seal means for sealingbetween said housing and said adapter to cause water from the faucet toflow through said adapter to said housing; a water wheel rotatablymounted in said housing and rotated by water flowing therethrough; aflexible shaft driven by said driver unit; and a hand unit including ahollow elongate handle, a motion translating device having an inputshaft and an output shaft, said flexible shaft extending into saidhandle and being connected to said input shaft, said motion translatingdevice translating rotary motion of said input shaft into oscillatorymotion of said output shaft through a predetermined angle about thelongitudinal axis of said output shaft; a tooth brush shaft rotatablymounted in said housing, and extending forwardly therefrom, said brushshaft having means exteriorly of said housing for securing a toothbrushthereto; and clutch means for selectively connecting said tooth brushshaft to said output shaft.

13. The cleaning apparatus of claim 12 wherein said clutch meanscomprises a clutch plate rigidly secured to said output shaft, a secondclutch plate mounted on said tooth brush shaft for longitudinalnon-rotatable movement relative thereto, and means operable from theexterior of said handle for moving said second clutch plate intoengagement with said first clutch plate.

14. The cleaning apparatus of claim 13 wherein said driver unit has achamber upstream of said water wheel and said unit has nozzle meansincluding a rigid conduit extending forwardly of the forward end of saidhandle; a flexible conduit having one end communicating with saidchamber and extending into said handle and having its other endconnected to said rigid conduit; and means carried by said handle andoperable to control flow through said flexible conduit to said nozzlemeans.

15. The cleaning apparatus of claim 12 wherein said driver unit has achamber upstream of said water wheel and said unit has nozzle meansincluding a rigid conduit 10 extending forwardly of the forward end ofsaid handle; a flexible conduit having one end communicating with saidchamber and extending into said handle and having its other endconnected to said rigid conduit; and means carried by said handle andoperable to control flow through said flexible conduit to said nozzlemeans.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 933,718 9/1909Mahoney 1522.1 X 1,563,707 12/1925 Hohl 1524 X 1,922,238 8/1933 Freed1524 1,945,616 2/1934 Mastrud 15-22 X 2,202,299 5/1940 Pelkey 1528 X2,673,750 3/1954 Scheiwer 285-277 3,034,376 5/1962 Gonzalez 15-23 XFOREIGN PATENTS 244,632 3/1912 Germany.

555,481 7/1932 Germany.

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

9. A HAND UNIT INCLUDING: A HOLLOW ELONGATE HANDLE, A MOTION TRANSLATINGDEVICE HAVING AN INPUT SHAFT AND AN OUTPUT SHAFT, SAID INPUT SHAFT BEINGROTATABLE BY A FLEXIBLE SHAFT ADAPTED TO BE CONNECTED TO SAID INPUTSHAFT, SAID MOTION TRANSLATING DEVICE TRANSLATING ROTARY MOTION OF SAIDINPUT SHAFT INTO OSCILLATORY MOTION OF SAID OUTPUT SHAFT THROUGH APREDETERMINED ANGLE ABOUT THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID OUTPUT SHAFT; ATOOTH BRUSH SHAFT ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN SAID HOUSING AND EXTENDINGFORWARDLY THEREFROM, SAID BRUSH SHAFT HAVING MEANS EXTERIORLY OF SAIDHOUSING FOR CONNECTING A TOOTH BRUSH THERETO; AND CLUTCH MEANS FORSELECTIVELY CONNECTING SAID TOOTH BRUSH SHAFT TO SAID OUTPUT SHAFT.